Page 34 of The Proving Ground
“We got cut off,” McEvoy said.
“By who? And how?”
“We still have Wi-Fi. It must have been on their end. The company cut the feed. They must have known it was us.”
“How would they know it was us?”
“I don’t know. I’m just guessing.”
“We were getting close.”
I checked my watch, knowing that Detective Clarke and Lorna could be back any moment. I went to the door and cracked it open to look out. In the squad room, several detectives sat at desks or stood in small huddles talking. I did not see Clarke or Lorna. I closed the door and turned back to McEvoy.
“Try to sign in again,” I said.
McEvoy typed, but the same answer quickly came back.
“Can’t get in,” he said. “Now I’m blocked.”
“All right,” I said. “Shut it down. Get off the internet, and let’s get out of here.”
“You sure?”
“There’s nothing else we can do unless you have another idea.”
“Uh, no. Are you going to ask Clarke any questions? To make this look legit?”
“No, better if I don’t ask him anything. It will avoid a possible discovery complaint from the Masons.”
“I thought this was cool if it wasn’t a sworn deposition.”
“It is, but that doesn’t mean they won’t file a complaint if they get wind of it.”
Just then the door to the interview room opened and Clarke leaned in, Lorna standing behind him.
“Are you guys ready yet?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “And we’re going to have to rain-check this.”
“What do you mean? You’re here, let’s get it over with.”
“I’m sorry, Detective, but we can’t. We’re having an issue with the cloud. We can’t find the files.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I don’t want to waste your time. So we’ll just get out of your way. We’ll figure this out and get back to you. I’m sorry we took up your time.”
“Well, all right, I guess. When you’re ready, I’ll walk you back to the elevator.”
“We’re ready.”
Clarke walked us out. He looked like he might be getting suspicious about how things had gone down, was maybe even beginning to realize that Lorna had decoyed him. But he asked no further questions. He stayed behind in the lobby as we stepped onto the elevator. He smiled at Lorna and gave a little wave. The door closed and we started down.
“What happened?” Lorna asked.
“We got on but then we got kicked off,” I said.
“By who?” she asked.
